This is the story of a perfectly self-serving update. Barely a year after his arrival on the throne of Denmark following the abdication of his mother Queen Margrethe II, monarch Frederik X decided, at the start of 2025, to modify the official coat of arms of the kingdom. A rare act which had, until now, only taken place three times since 1819. Now, the three crowns symbolizing the Union of Kalmar – uniting Denmark, Norway and Sweden under the control of a single crown until 1523 – no longer appear on the coat of arms. “They are no longer relevant,” justifies the royal family. Conversely, the polar bear and the ram symbolizing Greenland and the Faroe Islands, present until now in tiny format, now occupy a much more important place. A choice that is not just about aesthetics.
This modification of the coat of arms occurs in a period of strong tensions between Denmark and Greenland, the constituent country of the kingdom which has its own government and its own capital, but which retains King Frederik X as head of state. to keep in its bosom this island four times the size of France. “We are all united and each of us is committed to the Kingdom of Denmark. From the Danish minority in South Schleswig to Greenland. We are all together”launched the king during his speech for the new year.
A vision that the Greenlandic Prime Minister, Múte Bourup Egede, is far from sharing. In his New Year’s speech, the latter recalled his wish for independence. “The time has come to move forward for our country, he declared on January 1. Like other countries around the world, we must remove the obstacles to cooperation – which we can describe as the shackles of the colonial era – and move on.” The opportunity to put on the table the idea of a vote later this year on the future of the island.
-“Greenland is obviously not for sale”
The update of the official symbols desired by Frederik X is not only intended to show his attachment to the territory located in the northeast of Canada. It also aims to send a message to American President Donald Trump, who will officially return to the White House on January 20. The latter has always coveted the island, going so far as to offer to buy it. It would be “a big real estate transaction and strategically, for the United States, it would be nice”he told a few journalists in 2019 after asking his advisors if it was possible to acquire Greenland for big money. “Greenland is obviously not for sale”, the government then retorted.
A sentence that Múte Bourup Egede was forced to repeat a few days ago since Trump repeated, on December 22, that “For national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity”. Ideal for cooling relations with the island and Denmark even before his inauguration.
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